Srinagar, Dec 17 (IANS): There were protests by students at the Islamia college here on Tuesday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The police used force to disperse the protesters, following a clash that erupted between them.

"The students started pelting stones on the police to which they resorted to action and dispersed them", said Haseeb Mughal, SSP Srinagar.

However, a group of scribes were allegedly roughed up by the police soon after the violence broke out.

"We were just trying to take videos of some of the boys who we thought were detained by the police. That's when the police thrashed us and confiscated my phone", said Aazan Javed, a correspondent of the Print based in Srinagar.

"My phone is still with the police and I was performing my duty when the incident took place," he added.

When asked about the police action, the SSP said, "When the protest broke out, it became difficult to make out who was a journalist at that point of time".

This is the first protest in Kashmir against the CAB and NRC. The valley is already facing the situation of internet blockade by the government since August 5 when Article 370 was revoked.